Telework and Social Change: How Technology Is Reshaping the Boundaries Between Home and Work

Nicole B. Ellison

Bloomsbury Academic, Nov 30, 2004 - Business & Economics - 169 pages

As technology comes to permeate every aspect of work, it liberates organizations and their employees from the physical boundaries of the workplace, and yet amplifies many of the interpersonal and cultural challenges inherent to corporate life. Drawing from an in-depth study of two dynamic organizations, along with extensive research on technology and organizational behavior, Nicole Ellison explores the subtle and powerful ways that distance working influences management effectiveness, worker productivity, and such intangible elements as social cohesion and trust.

Featuring interviews with executives, managers, and employees, Telework and Social Change illuminates the ways in which access to always-on information and communications technologies-which allow people to work from virtually anywhere-influence their work styles, interactions with colleagues and supervisors, and the ways in which they define the boundaries between work and home. Offering insights for future research and practice, Telework and Social Change provides a multi-dimensional perspective on the evolving relationships among technology, geography, and the structural and cultural aspects of work in the digital age.

About the author

NICOLE B. ELLISON is an assistant professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media at Michigan State University. Previously, she was a faculty member at California State University, Stanislaus, and a senior researcher for Sapient Corporation in San Francisco. She has published research on virtual communities, telework, and online culture in journals and as book chapters in Virtual Culture and Doing Internet Research.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Telework and Social Change: How Technology Is Reshaping the Boundaries Between Home and Work
• Author: Nicole B. Ellison
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2004
• ISBN: 0275978001, 9780275978006
• Length: 169 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / General; Business & Economics / Organizational Behavior; Business & Economics / Workplace Culture; Computers / Hardware / Personal Computers / General; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social